Sixties
Citypresents
a wide-ranging series of
articles on all aspects of the Sixties, penned by the creator of the iconic
60s music paper Mersey
Beat

The
man whose efforts to create “socialism with a human face” in Czechoslovakia
resulted in the ‘Prague Spring’ of 1968, Alexander Dubcek, was born
in Ihrovek, Slovakia on 27th November 1921 and his family emigrated
to the Soviet Union when he was four years old, returning to their homeland
in 1938. Alexander became Communist Party secretary the following year.
From August 1944 he was a member of the Slovak Resistance and after
the war, in 1949, he became a full-time Communist Party official and
was sent to Moscow for political education from 1955-1958. On his return
to Czechoslovakia he began to rise in the hierarchy, becoming Leader
of the Slovakian Communist Party in 1963 and then in 1968, at the age
of 46, he ousted Antonin Novotny and was appointed Czech Party Leader,
the first Slovak to hold the post.

That same year saw the introduction of Dubcek’s programme of reforms,
which included freedom of speech. Leonid Brezhnev was concerned about
the new liberalism in Czechoslovakia and voiced his concern that there
were American agents in the country. Dubcek assured the Soviets that
his reform programme would not endanger Socialism, but they would not
accept what he had to say and, in May 1968, units of the Soviet Army
assembled on the Czech border.

By July there were 1,000 tanks and 75,000 troops gathered outside the
country and Dubcek met with Soviet leaders on 29th July for talks at
Cierna-Nad-Tisou. He once again assured them of Czechoslovakia’s loyalty
to their Soviet ally but on 20th August the Soviet Army, with some token
Warsaw Pact forces, invaded the country. Dubcek was to say, “How could
they do this to me? My whole life has been devoted to co-operation with
the Soviet Union. This is my own profound personal tragedy.”

He was then taken to Moscow and forced to abandon his policies On his
return he was compelled to resign as Party Secretary in April and was
then made Speaker of the Federal Assembly. In 1970 he was expelled from
the Communist Party and soon shuttled off to a minor administrative
post in Bratislava, where he spent a total of 20 years as a ‘non person’,
harassed by the secret police. He was to say that his spirits remained
strong due to the support of his wife and three sons.

He returned to the political limelight in 1988, supporting the dissident
playwright Vaclav Haval in November 1989 during what was to be called
‘The Velvet Revolution.’ Dubcek was to witness the fall of Communism
in Czechoslovakia but, although he became the Chairman of the Federal
Parliament, he was politically irrelevant.

In September 1992 he was involved in a serious road accident and the
injuries he sustained eventually led to his death on 7th November 1992.

Bill
Harryattended
the Liverpool College of Art with Stuart Sutcliffe and John Lennon and made
the arrangements for Brian Epstein to visit The Cavern, where he saw The
Beatles for the first time. Bill was a member of 'The Dissenters' and the
founder and editor of 'Mersey Beat', the iconic weekly music newspaper
that documented the early Sixties music scene in the Liverpool area and
is possibly best known for being the first periodical to feature a local
band called 'The Beatles'. He has worked as a high powered publicist, doing
PR for acts such as Suzi Quatro, Free, The Arrows and Hot Chocolate and
has managed press campaigns for record labels such as CBS, EMI, Polydor.
Bill is the critically acclaimed author of a large number of books about
The Beatles and the 60s era including 'The Beatles Who's Who', 'The Best
Years of the Beatles' and the Fab Four's 'Encyclopedia' series. He has appeared
on 'Good Morning America' and has received a Gold Award from the British
Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.